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***Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction is authorized without written permission from Springer Verlag. This version of the document is not the version of record. Figures and/or pictures may be missing from this format of the document.*** Internet and e-commerce are experiencing hyperbolic growth rates and highly asymmetric global distribution. There is also a significant variation worldwide in the means used to access the Internet and the e-commerce models adopted. This paper attempts to identify and synthesize the available evidence on predictors of mag-nitude, global distribution and forms of e-commerce. The analysis indicates that the twin forces of globalization and major revolutions in ICT are fuelling the rapid growth of global e-commerce. On the other hand, economic and infrastructure-related factors, cultural factors, political and legal factors and the activities of supranational institutions determine the proportion of the global e-commerce a country is likely to receive and the forms in which it is implemented. The success of a company is a function of its ability to understand how various environmental factors influence the optimum combination of fixed and mobile telecommunications networks in a country; appropriateness of a product to be sold online; website design; payment mechanism; delivery means; etc